[Fire6Dude]

Hello, I could use a little help and input.

Here's my situation. I have a duplex built in 1922. It has some Knob and Tube wiring, some old cloth wiring and some new wiring. All receptacles, switches, lights are in perfect working order. I have a 100 amp breaker panel. Heating is natural gas boiler. Insurance company has insured me knowing my electrical system.

I plan on remodelling my kitchen, expanding it into another room. I called two licensed electricians to give me a quote.

First electrician said he will have to rewire my entire unit. Drill holes in my plaster and lathe walls, fish all new wires and bring everything to up code. $10,000+

Second electrician said to leave K&T and old wires alone. He said many houses still have perfectly working K&T wiring. If there are no flickering lights or tripping breakers then there is no problem. I have 7 unused slots in panel which is more than enough room for a dishwasher, fan, etc... He said to save my money and troubles with patching up plaster walls from fished wires.

I like the idea of having a safe, up to code, brand new electrical system in my home. But I also like the idea of saving the $10,000. If it aint broke don't fix it??? What do you guys think??
Thanks ahead of time :thumbup:

 

[electures]

Hire the second guy.

 

[ddawg16]

Hire the second guy.

Ditto.....

 

[AllanJ]

K&T wiring that has soldered joints and which is taut enough so conductors don't sag and touch is actually extremely robust. It would have no more problems with loose connections than new wiring where the most connection problems happen inside outlet boxes and where fortunately you can open up the box and fix the problems.

 

[Kyle_in_rure]

I personally agree with the above posters. If you're not having problems, there's no need to upgrade.
However, DO keep in mind that K&T is not supposed to have insulation covering it, it needs the air space for heat dissipation.:yes:

 

[Jim Port]

One issue is if you want to insulate and the K&T is in the way, you cannot insulate around it.

 

[Fire6Dude]

Thanks for the quick reply. The official quote from the first company was just over $12,000. So I decided to go with the second option, keep the original wiring and bring in new circuits when I remodel the kitchen.
Thanks again